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Wednesdays with Wayne – Mr. Sprintcar II!
(Bill W) August 13, 2008 – Is it Wayne Johnson or Wayne "Sprintcar"? Either way, he's "Mr. Sprintcar" for the second year in a row, having won the award from Cox Design and Metal Fabrication for accumulating the most points during Southern Iowa Sprintweek. It was quite a ten day stretch for the Oklahoma native who now resides in Knoxville, Iowa. After capturing the 360 Nationals on August 2, his quest to make his sixth consecutive Knoxville Nationals finale succeeded this past weekend, capping one of the best stretches of his career.
Doubts surrounded Wayne's chances of six in a row at the Nationals after a lackluster year in the 410. A shortage of laps and seat time, as well as a recent switch to Maxim chassis had resulted in poor qualifying, usually one of the talented driver's fortes. Instead of going with a new Fisher Motor in which he had experienced fuel pump problems with at Knoxville and Oskaloosa, the team chose to go with "Old Lucy" (their five year Fisher powerplant) for the Nationals. When he qualified 22nd quick, giving up 42 points in the process, last Wednesday in the FattFro #14AJ, many thought the streak was done.
With several heavy hitters behind him in the second heat of the night, Wayne lined up outside row three and was on a roll, surging to the front after a restart around the halfway mark and taking the win. "I knew that I had a heavy heat with (Danny) Lasoski, (Steve) Kinser, (Fred) Rahmer and (Justin) Henderson back there," he says. "I knew I better get something done early and get through traffic. We were riding second during a caution, which would put us in the show, but it's about points, so I had to get to the front."
Just enough drivers who qualified faster than Wayne missed the eight-car invert in the 20-lap feature event, putting Wayne on the pole. He stuck his machine to the bottom of the track and set sail, building his lead. "The bottom was working really well, especially in one and two," he remembers. "We had our Maxim hooked up and 'Old Lucy' was chugging. I was just trying to make sure to hit my marks."
Just after the halfway mark, he entered heavy lapped traffic. A clean track was presented with a caution on lap 11. With Lasoski directly behind him, Wayne protected the low line of turns one and two. He headed to the cushion in three and four, allowing Lasoski to show his nose on the low side. Wayne slammed the door in turn one and never got off the bottom, holding on to the $12,000 win. "I tried to go high on that first restart, and after I saw Lasoski down there, you couldn't have pried me off the bottom with a crowbar!" he stated. "I may have cut him off a little bit, but it's nothing he wouldn't have done to me."
The win locked Wayne securely into Saturday night's finale. It was his sixth straight showing in the event, and he is only one of six drivers to accomplish that feat (Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl and Shane Stewart are the others). "We were happy to do that for (car owner) Al (Christoffer) again," says Wayne. "He hasn't seen the car run all year, so it was good to win for him the first time out and put it in the show again."
Despite the pomp and circumstance, and the fire and the brimstone before the feature event, Wayne knew before the race even started that the car was too tight to progress from his 14th starting spot. "We weren't set up," he says. "I knew just riding around there lining up, that we weren't going forward and I was in trouble. The racetrack was better than what I thought it was going to be and we were just too tight."
Still, a 16th place finish showed that he wasn't totally out to lunch, and you can't make $7,800 finishing 16th anywhere else. All in all, winning three races in 10 days and the Mr. Sprintcar title was more than anyone could ask for. "I'm extremely pleased with the way the whole week went," he says. "I'd like to thank all of my car owners and the crew. They are the ones who work their butts off so we can do well. I'd also like to thank Charlie Fisher for making some 'killer' motors."
This weekend, Wayne will be headed to Jackson, Minnesota on Friday and Saturday for the $5,000 to win Jackson Nationals. He will be back in the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 360. Wayne is no stranger to victory lane at Jackson. "We won the Jackson Nationals in the FattFro car when it was a 410 race (2005)," says Wayne. "This will be my first time there with a 360 though. I like the big tracks, and Jackson fits my style."
T-shirts and Hats
Separate shirts for the H&H #94 and FattFro #14AJ are now available at the trailer.
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Dan in Oklahoma City asks: What are your first impressions about the new deal with ASCS and Lucas Oil for next year?
Wayne answers: My first impression would be, if we add a lot of new teams with a lot of money, what is going to happen to the lower budget teams like ourselves that ASCS is based on? We'll either have to step up the equipment or get out. I'm hoping that with TV around, it doesn't drive big money into this thing and later we end up where we are now, or worse. Hopefully, they've looked at what's going to happen beyond this deal and it will be a positive.
Got a question for Wayne? Send it to us at [email protected], and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for Wayne" in your subject line. He'll try to keep it clean if you do!
Wayne's Fast Facts
Wayne's Jackson Nationals win in 2005 came in the #14AJ. He bested Rob Tvedte, Matt Folstad, Dusty Zomer and Matt Wasmund that night. He also won at Jackson with the IRA, driving Guy Forbrook's #5 in 2006. That night he beat Travis Whitney, Gary DeWall, Billy Balog and John Sernett. Guy and Wayne would return two weeks later and finish eighth when the World of Outlaws visited the big ½ mile oval.
"Wednesday's with Wayne"
"Wednesday's With Wayne" is an up close look at the past, present and future of colorful and talented sprint car driver Wayne Johnson. You'll never know what to expect next with Wayne, so don't miss us on Wednesdays!
To receive "Wednesday's with Wayne", send an e-mail to [email protected] with "Wayne" in the subject line.
Wayne would like to thank H&H Enterprises, Pearson Farms, R&A Farms, FattFro, Stone Mountain Access, Cerma Advanced Lubrication Technology (www.cermastore.com), www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Knoxville Nationals Queen Summer Sistad survived this hug (Conrad Nelson Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
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